Transmitter.



PATENTED NOV. 14, 1905.

@Moz

`A. VAN WAGENEN.

TRANSMITTER.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 30. 1896.

IIIIIINIIIIIIHIIII fan, Wag'enen. M 44. /1 5% A @wi/theme@ M ma UNITED sTATEs PATENT loEEIoE.

ANTHONY VAN WAGENEN, OF SIOUX CITY, IOWA, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO CLARK AUTOMATIC TELEPHONE SVVITCH-BOARD COMPANY, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND, A CORPORATION OF WEST VIRGINIA.

TRANSMITTER.

iro. 804,279.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 14, 1905.

To all whom t may concern,.-

Be it known that I, ANTHONYVANWAGENEN, la citizen of the United States, residing at Sioux City, in the county of Woodbury and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Transmitters; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in instruments designed for use in connection with systems of electrical intercommunication, such as automatic telephone-exchange systems; and it consists in the improved transmitter, the construction and arrangement of the parts of which will be hereinafter fully described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple, compact, and cheap transmitter which will not readily get out of order and which can be easily operated by inexperienced persons.

In accomplishing the object of my invention I provide a revoluble circuit making and breaking wheel'against the periphery of which presses a spring-actuated contact piece in -suitable connection with the outside circuit. In connection with the wheel I use a dial-plate having thereon the names, numbers, or other designations of the connections which it is desired to establish or the signals which it is desired to givev by the use of the transmitter and .also a series of apertures, one for each such name or other designation, into which plugs are adapted to be inserted, so as to arrest the :movement of the circuit making and breaking wheel by engagement with a stud or stop projecting from' the upper surface of the same.

The power required to actuate the circuit .making and breaking wheel is produced by .the action ofy a spring which is secured at one 'end to the shaft on which the circuit making and breaking wheel is mounted and at the other end to the case which incloses said wheel. Power is stored in the spring by revolution of the circuit making and breaking wheel in a direction opposite to that in which said wheel moves .when making the electrical contacts necessary to bring about any desired connection. As it is thus necessary in my present construction to impart the power required to cause movement of the circuit making and breaking wheel by manual rotation of said wheel, I have found it expedient to use a switch operated directly by the circuit making and breaking wheel itself to break the circuit through the transmitter when the circuit making and breaking wheel is moved in the direction required to store power in the operating-spring andto make the circuit when the return movement of the circuit making and breaking Wheel cornmences. In order that the switch may be operated correctly, I further provide means for making it necessary to revolve the circuit making and breaking Wheel through a cornplete revolution when power is being storedv before the return movement of such wheel can commence.

I thus gain the additional advantage of insuring the return of the cirf the service instrument has been concluded,

as the mere withdrawal of the indicator-plug will allow the circuit making and breaking wheel to return to its normal position.

My invention is fully illustrated in the drawings which accompany and form a part of this application, in which the same reference-letters refer to the same or corresponding parts, and in which- Figure l is a top plan view of my transmitter, a portion of the case of the same being broken away to show the circuit making and breaking wheel and thevmechanism in connection therewith. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of my transmitter with the outer case broken away. Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view of the switch mechanism by means of which the Referring to the drawin`gs,'A represents-the. This case; maybe of any suitable mates CaSe.

rial, but is -preferably made of nickel-plated metal, so as to give the samev a neat and at- IOO ltractive appearance. The case is provided with a bottom or bed plate B, from the center of which projects upward the central shaft C.

Upon the shaft C is mounted the circuit making and breaking wheel D. Said vshaft may be rotated in one direction against the tension of a spring Gr by means of a knob F. Rotation in the opposite direction is accomplished by the said spring, one end of which is secured to the shaft, the other end being secured to a base-plate H, supported upon the bottom or bed plate B of the case. Rotation oi' the shaft under the intluence of the spring is controlled by an escapement mechanism E, which` is held in place through being connected to the dial I and through having a bearing-orifice-through which shaft C passes.

The top of the case A is closed by the dial I, on which are formed in regular series the names, numbers, or other designations oi' the connections which it is desired to establish or the signals which it is desired to give by the use of my transmitter and also a series of apertures corresponding to the several designations. Into these apertures plugs K are adapted to be inserted, so as to arrest the movement of the circuit making and breaking wheel by engagement with the stop d, which projects from the upper surface of the same. The circuit making and breaking wheel D, which, as before stated, is mounted upon the central shaft C and operated by the action of the power-spring G, is formed with a series of teeth, cogs, or projections upon its periphery corresponding in number to the number of names or other designations upon the surface of the dialor the maximum number of subscribers in the system. ,With the periphery of the circuit making and breaking wheel engages the spring-pressed contact-lever L,

the lower end of which is pivotally mounted.

upon a bracket Z, projecting from the side of the case A. The spring Z', which controls the position of the contact-lever L, bears against aninsulated plate Z2, which is secured to the side of the case. The bracketv Z, which serves to support .the contact-lever L, is mounted upon. an insulated base-plate Z3, as shown, so that the contact-lever L is insulated from the case, except in so far as it contacts with the circuit making and breaking wheel D. The contact-lever L is connected to the binding-post N through the wire Z4, the switch-lever M, and the wire Zi. By means of the binding-post N any desired connection with an outside circuit can be established.A

when the connection of the contact-lever L to the binding-post N is complete the passage ,of every tooth of the circuit making and breakvnormal vor Zero position after such circuit making and breaking wheel has been rotated forward througha complete revolution in order to enable' the power-spring G to store sufficient power to operate the same. It is apparent, therefore, that in order to prevent the registering of a double series oi' contacts by the movement of the circuit making and breaking wheel provision mustbe made for keeping the circuit vbroken during the movement of the lcircuit .makingand breaking wheel, which has for its purpose the storage of power in the spring G and for completing the circuit to the'contact-wheel D and lever L when the backward movement-of the circuity making and breaking wheel takes place. This is accomplished Vby vthe'following construction: The switch-lever vM is pivotally mounted upon aninsulated base M; The switchlever is in the form of a bell-crank lever and is formedv with an arm of insulating materiall m and with an arm of conducting material m. Stopsmiand m3 serve -to limit the pivotal movement of the switch-lever. When the switch-lever is inthe position shown in the drawings, the armm of the-same does not contact with the contact-point-m4, and thus the circuit to the contact-lever L is broken, and movement of the circuit making and Lbreaking wheel in the directionfof ythe arrow in Fig. 1 can take place withoutmaking any electrical contacts which will operate the -receiver or other devicewith which thehftransmitter may be in electrical communication. When the circuit making and breaking wheel-hasbeen rotated through' lanentire revolution, however, the stop CZ', which is formedionl the lower surface of the same, willy engagefwith "the arm m of the switch-lever M and will move lsuch switchlever pivotally until .the arm m `of the same contacts with the contact-point m4, andthus establishes thev connectionfrom .the outside circuit `to the switch-lever L, and thereby through the transmitter. As Athe backward movement of thecircuit makingV and breaking wheel `now takes place, electrical contacts will be made` as each `tooth of lsuch wheel passes the contact-leverI L, and-the receiver or other instrument i-n electrical communication with thetransmitter will be properly ac-l tuated to establish the desired-connectionor set the desired signal. rlhe movement of the ycircuit making and breaking wheel may be arrested at any point by the insertion of the IOO .IIO

IIS

indicator-plug K in any one of the apertures formed in the dial, and upon the simple removal of the indicator-plug the circuit making and breaking wheel will return to its normal or zero position by the actuation of the power-spring G without any further operation by the operator.

ln order to insure the circuit making and and breaking wheel being moved througha complete revolution each time that power is being stored in the power-spring G, and thereby the proper operation of the switch-lever M, l increase the distance between two of the cogs (Z2 and di on the circuit making and breaking wheel and provide a locking-pawl O, pivotally supported from any convenient portion of the frame of the instrument-as, for example, the top plate Ivsaid pawl arranged to engage the teeth of wheel D and of such width and length that it can be reversed only when within the said wide space of the wheel. Said pawl, therefore, acts to prevent vreversal of movement of the wheel D in whichever direction such wheel may have started, until, the movement being complete,

the wide space of the wheel is opposite said pawl, sov that the latter may be reversed by movement of the wheel in the reverse direction. When, therefore, the circuit making and breaking wheel is revolved in a direction to'cause power to be stored in the powerspring Gr, it will be impossible for any return movement of the circuit making and breaking wheel to take place until such wheel has been turned through a complete revolution, the pawl O has again slipped into the enlarged space provided therefor, and, as a necessary result, the switch mechanism M has been properly actuated to close the circuit through the transmitter. The power thus stored in the power-spring is sufficient to cause the return movement of the circuit making and breaking wheel through a complete revolution, so that the circuit through the transmitter is broken at the close of each actuation thereof.

AThe escapement mechanism E, which serves to regulate the speed of rotation of the circuit making and breaking wheel, is formed as follows: Upon the central shaft C is mounted the main wheel e of the escapement mechanism, such gear-wheel being rigidly connected with the circuit making and breaking wheel, so as to move with the same. Upon the central shaft is also mounted a frame e', which forms a support for the escapement-wheel e2, (which is geared with the gear-wheel e by means of t-he pinion e3, mounted upon its shaft,) and also the pivoted pallet ci, such pallet being provided with a weighted pendulum-arm e5, as shown in Fig. 1. Movement of the circuit making and breaking wheel results in corresponding movement of the gear-wheel c and of the train in connection therewith and the consequent pivotal movement of the paldial, the knob F is turned through a complete revolution, thus causing the circuit making and breaking wheel to also turn through a complete revolution and to store sufficient power in the power-spring G to return the wheel to its normal or zero position. As the movementof thecircuit making and breaking wheel in the direction to cause power to be stored inthe power-spring is completed the stop d', projecting from the lower surface of the circuit making and breaking wheel, contacts with the insulated frame m of the switchlever M and moves such switch-lever in such a manner as to cause the arm m of the same to contact with the contact-point mf and complete the circuit to the contact-lever L and through the transmitter. At this point also the pivoted pawl O enters the enlarged space before referred to between the two teeth cl2 and Z3 of the circuit making and breaking wheel. The indicator-plug K can now be inserted in the aperture corresponding to the connection desired to be established or the signal desired to be given. Upon the release of the knob F the power-spring G will cause the circuit making and breaking wheel to move in a reverse direction until the stop d, formed on the upper surface of the same, contacts with the lower end of the indicatorplug K. During the passage of the circuit making and breaking wheel through this movement the circuit is broken and made every time a tooth of the circuit making and breaking wheel passes the contact-lever L, and thus the receiver or other device with which the transmitter may be in electrical communication is properly actuated to establish the desired connection or set the desired signal. Upon withdrawal of the indicatorplug K the circuit making and breaking wheel will be returned to its normal or Zero position by the power-spring G without the need of any operation on the part of the operator. As the circuit making and breaking' wheel resumes its normal position the stop cl', projecting from the lower surface of the same, engages with the switch-lever M and breaks the circuit, and the pawl O falls again into the enlarged space between the two teeth of such circuit making and breaking wheel.

1t is apparent that many changes or alterations can be made in the structure which I have herein disclosed without departing from IOO ythe spirit and scope of my invention, and I do not limit myself to the precise structural details shown; but

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is*

1. In a transmitter, the combination with circuit-varying mechanism having an automatically-returned actuating member, and an indicator arranged to arrest the movement of said actuating member at predetermined points, of a separate switch controlling the same circuit as said circuit-varying mechanism, means for reversing said switch when the actuating member reaches either extreme position of its movement, and a locking device for preventing said actuating member from reversing its direction of movement at an intermediate point.

2. In a transmitter, the combination with circuit making and breaking mechanism comprising a contact-brush, a toothed contactwheel, means for rotating said wheel in one direction, and means for returning said wheel, of an indicator provided with openings through which stops may be 4inserted to engage said wheel and arrest the kmovement thereof, a separate switch controlling the same circuit as said circuit making and breaking mechanism, means operated by said mechanism for causing said switch to break its contact through which said circuit passes when said actuating member reaches its normal position, and to complete said contact when said actuating member has reached the other eX- treme of its movement, and areversing-pawl, normally engaging the teeth of said wheel and preventing change of direction of 4motion thereof, said wheel having two teeth which are farther apart than the others, so as to permit the pawl to be reversed when such point is reached.

In testimony whereof I aiiiX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

i ANTHONY VAN WAGENEN.

Witnesses:

C. C. Roscoe, ELIZABETH J. HANKs. 

